Afghanistan: Hundreds killed as flash floods hit several provinces

Authorities in Afghanistan declared a state of emergency after deadly flash floods that tore across several provinces on Friday left about 315 dead and over 1,600 injured.

Aid organizations have issued warnings of growing devastation after characterizing the deadly floods as a “major humanitarian emergency,” according to news agency Reuters.

Following intense rains on Friday that caused raging rivers of water and mud to slither through villages and across agricultural land in multiple provinces, damaging healthcare facilities and essential infrastructure in addition to wiping out thousands of homes and livestock, Afghan authorities have reported several people missing.

One of the most affected provinces was Northern Baghlan, when thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed and over 300 people died in one area alone.

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According to a UN official, there were 311 deaths, 2,011 destroyed, and 2,800 damaged homes in the province of Baghlan alone.

The economics minister for the Taliban, Mohammad Hanif, pleaded with the UN, aid organizations, and the private sector to help the flood victims.

In the hardest-hit neighborhoods, he estimated that 310,000 children resided, saying, “Children have lost everything.”

According to Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “expresses his solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and extends his condolences to the families of the victims,” and the UN is coordinating with local authorities to provide assistance.

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Richard Bennett, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan for the United Nations, has demanded that flood victims in the nation receive emergency assistance.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Bennett posted, “Recent floods in Afghanistan, including Baghlan, which claimed many lives, are a stark reminder of Afghanistan’s vulnerability to the #climatecrisis & both immediate aid and long term planning by the Taliban & international actors are needed. Condolences to the families of victims.”

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) was also getting ready for a swift reaction and claimed that the floods should serve as a “alarm bell” to remind donors and world leaders not to overlook a nation that has been destroyed by decades of strife and is constantly facing natural disasters.